Analysis Examples

Incident-based reporting systems such as NIBRS represent a rich source of data for analysts. Detailed information on offenses, offenders, victims, property, and arrestees for every incident provides an opportunity for analysis at the incident level, in-depth analysis of each segment, and analyses of the relationship(s) between the segments.

The links below show examples of working with an incident-level aggregated flat file and individual flat file segments (see Preparing A File For Analysis) to answer specific research questions. Each example includes a link to the research question narrative and a link to the annotated syntax file that explains the steps involved. The research question narrative includes the output and a summary of the results. A link is also provided to the annotated syntax file, which shows and explains the programming required for procedures ranging from creating a new variable to matching between data segments for multiple segment analysis. The download code can be used for national, state, or local data by making the appropriate modifications to the directory, path, and file names. It can be saved and further tailored to meet the needs of individual analysts.